Tag Archives: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

I love working with special needs dogs of all kinds. Last month, I had the privilege of working with two very special puppies at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary – Kit and Caboodle.

These puppies, Siberian Husky crosses, are brother and sister and were abandoned at the age of 8 weeks in Missouri. They found their way to Utah to be cared for and rehabilitated. Their kennel is lined with layers of pillows and blankets because both dogs struggle to stand up, although they are getting stronger every day thanks to caregivers and volunteers who work with them on a regular basis. They even have purpose-built mobility carts to help them!

These kids are approaching their first birthday and have puppy levels of energy and are interested in all that is going on around them; the veterinary team has managed their conditions through medications for nausea and nerve pain….

During my session, we filmed a number of videos with two of the volunteers observing what I was doing with the dogs – so they could replicate some of my actions.

With both dogs, I was interested in calming their central nervous system, relaxation, and lots and lots of stretching since their limbs are working very hard. Despite their neurological status, both dogs had trigger points just like ‘normal’ dogs do.

I am very grateful for the staff who organized my work schedule so I could offer my skills to 10 dogs at the sanctuary.

And I watch with interest on the progress reports about my neurological babies.

An American Pit Bull x Boxer, Willa has breast cancer which has likely spread. She’s on medication, but with time being precious, it’s important to focus on quality of life. Willa is a popular sleepover dog at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary – every precious sleepover adds to Willa’s quality of life and enrichment. She really enjoys getting out of kennels, getting cuddles and having a good, deep sleep.

Willa loves rides in the car

Big smile from Willa to be in a real bed

A special tag for a special girl

I really enjoyed staying with Willa and seeing her sweet nature in person. Let’s hope she gets a home soon.

I have taken myself on study leave to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah and today, they lined up 10 dogs for me to work with. It was a jam-packed day.

First on the list was return customer, Google. A Blue Heeler x Australian Cattle dog cross, I massaged Google two years ago during my last visit (see Re-visiting Old Friends). Google has long-standing neck issues thanks to being kept on a chain early in his life. He receives chiropractic adjustments every two months. Google has been at Dogtown for 7 years; he’s now 10. Google prefers to be adopted into a home where he will be the only-dog (and possibly the reason why it is taking him so long to find a home).

Massage definitely has a role to play in animal sheltering. Keeping a dog comfortable in the kennel environment, particularly when they have physical challenges, is essential so the dog puts his/her best paw forward when prospective adopters come visiting.

Massage therapists look for the ‘soft eyes’ of a relaxed client. Here’s a selfie to show you what I mean.

Editor’s Note from DoggyMom: This research endorses the approach used by Best Friends Animal Society at its Kanab, Utah sanctuary which allows behavior-tested dogs to go on ‘sleepovers’ with volunteers and guests. I have hosted many sleepover dogs in my 3 visits to Kanab (and planning to do it again on my 4th visit). It is heartening to know that science has backed up the practice – showing that it helps the dogs relieve stress from living in a the kennel environment

“Who’s a good dog? You are, aren’t you? Yes, you’re the best dog that ever was.”

But is he really a good dog? Can you really tell when you’re doing a meet-and-greet in the shelter? Is that how he’s going to be when you take him home? Are you getting Lassie or the Hound of the Baskervilles?

These were the sorts of questions that led to a study done by an Arizona State University researcher.

Lisa Gunter, a doctoral candidate studying behavioral neuroscience at the Canine Science Collaboratory in the Department of Psychology, began the project as a pilot study at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, the largest no-kill shelter in the country. About 1,600 dogs and cats live there, visited by about 30,000 people per year. It’s a popular vacation destination for pet lovers. People come and take weeklong “volunteer vacations.”

Gunter looked at the sleepover program offered by Best Friends, where visitors can take a dog back to their hotel room for the night.

The question she had was this: Is their behavior on the sleepover predictive?

Credit: Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Lisa Gunter plays with her 11-year-old rescued border collie Sonya outside the Psychology building on ASU’s Tempe campus. Gunter, a doctoral candidate studying behavioral neuroscience at the Canine Science Collaboratory in the Department of Psychology, found that shelter dogs benefit from sleepover programs like the one offered at at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, the USA’s largest no-kill animal shelter.

“We wanted to see how one night out of the shelter would impact the dogs,” Gunter said. “Is that what someone will see in their house? … That has been a challenge in sheltering.”

Gunter measured levels of cortisol, a diurnal hormone that is a measure of stress. She also took a behavioral snapshot of each dog, asking such questions as: What’s he like on a leash? What’s he like when he sees another dog? What’s he like when you come into his kennel?

“We saw one night out significantly reduced their cortisol,” Gunter said. “When they returned the next day, it was the same. We knew it at least dropped for one night.”

Lowered stress levels could allow the dog to behave more naturally, giving people a better view of the dog’s true personality.

The researchers took cortisol samples at three time points: the dog at the shelter, the dog at the sleepover and the dog back at the shelter.

“We’re trying to get more at the dog’s welfare, how they’re feeling on a larger timescale, not just 10 or 15 minutes,” Gunter said. “When we saw the cortisol had significantly reduced on just one overnight, that was pretty exciting. We didn’t imagine that just one night out would make a difference.”

Anecdotally, people who took a dog home for a sleepover reported that after the dog settled down, it would immediately go for a long sleep.

“Is sleep potentially a component to their welfare?” she said. “Getting good, uninterrupted sleep could benefit them as well. That could be one mechanism by which we’re seeing this reduction in cortisol. The dogs are getting a good night’s sleep. That’s something they can’t get at the shelter because they have a lot of noisy neighbors.”

Gunter has been carrying out the study in collaboration with a researcher at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. They were recently awarded a grant to carry out this study at four shelters across the U.S. Instead of a one-day baseline, they’ll be collecting a two-day sample.

Shelters are constantly looking for ways to get animals into homes.

“For a long time in sheltering it was thought dogs would be more adoptable if you just taught them to sit, if you just taught them to be well-behaved,” Gunter said. “That’s not necessarily the case. That’s not what our lab has found. There are behaviors related to companionship of people in a meet-and-greet setting when the person is getting to know the dog.”

They’ve found two behaviors that people respond to: when the dog lies down next to the person and whether the dog responded to an invitation to play.

“We’re a behavior and cognition lab, so we really try to understand what the animal is experiencing by looking at its behavior,” Gunter said. “Until the time we can have a conversation with them, for now we’re left with observing their behavior. We’re essentially detectives, trying to gather the information to have our best understanding of what the dog is experiencing. It’s the best we can do, without being dogs.”

Wiggles, an aging Boxer, is a new admission to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. We didn’t know why he was surrendered, but we noticed during our assessment that he had signs of arthritis including some lameness in his left foreleg. Wiggles would also benefit from weight loss.

Our job was to do some initial training with Wiggles, who proved to be a clever (as well as cute) boy. I particularly found his under bite adorable.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary allows sleepovers with selected sanctuary dogs. These dogs have been assessed for behaviours and deemed ready to go out to the public so they can experience environments that are more like a private home.

These experiences make the dogs more suitable for adoption and they give the dog a much-needed rest from the kennel environment.

Brigit, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier x Cattle Dog, is my sleepover dog as I study dog handling skills here. She’s very sociable with people, but is reactive to other dogs which we are working on…

Today, I took Brigit for an enrichment visit to the Landing, an area of the sanctuary that is grassed and is in shade. She had a wonderful time, followed by an hour-long walk in the evening when we met many people and successfully encouraged her to look at me rather than focusing on dogs that were passing on the other side of the street.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is one of those special places that allow dogs in offices. It’s the ultimate dog-friendly workplace; dogs are not only welcomed in the offices of workers, they are encouraged.

Many office staff take dogs from the sanctuary to give them socialization experience as they prepare to be adopted.